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A group of Nepalese climbers have removed 2.2 tons of trash from the world’s highest peak in an exercise now expected to gain steam this month when the Nepalese military begins scavenging for trash on five more mountains in addition to Mount Everest. It comes as Covid restrictions are lifted and the spring climbing season begins.
Nepalese climbers have spent 47 days since September of last year picking up trash around the 17,900-foot base camp on Mount Everest.
The expedition backed by a Swiss luxury brand has benefited from the lull in tourism in Nepal due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Environmental activist Dawa Steven Sherpa, who led the exercise, spoke about the event in an April 1 video message.
“When we take away trash from the base camp or from a mountain, it must make the gods feel like removing a thorn from their finger,” he said in the video of men collecting bottles of water. oxygen, cans, food packaging and kitchen scraps behind by climbers.
“I think a lot of people will be inspired or find motivation and would like to do the same when this crisis (Covid-19) is over,” he added.
Nepalese authorities removed 11 tons of trash and four bodies of climbers during a two-month cleanup of the world’s highest peak in 2019.
A private group announced in January that it plans to turn the collected waste into works of art and sold as souvenirs.
But some officials said they thought it was a mammoth task, as around 800 people attempt to climb 29,030-foot Mount Everest every year.
The Nepal Tourism Board official warned that while private initiatives are welcome, “cleaning up mountains is not as easy as it sounds.”
Completed 100 permits have already been approved at the start of the spring climbing season, and Nepal is lifting quarantine restrictions to allow international visitors.
Military cleaning
The Nepalese army unveiled plans for a military cleanup of Mount Everest, first climbed by Norwegian Edward Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in May 1953.
The campaign will start on April 13 and end on June 5, World Environment Day, the military said and added that the exercise will target other mountains as well.
“There will be 43 Nepalese Army climbers with Sherpa climbers and other guides,” Brigadier General Shanttosh Ballave Poudyal said as quoted by local media.
“The cleaning will be done in the base and above in all the mountains.” The army spokesman said and added that the non-biodegradable waste will be transported to the capital Kathmandu.
The army hopes to collect at least 35 tonnes of trash including 18 tonnes from areas around base camps in the mountains such as Lhotse, Pumori, Ama Dablam, Makalu and Mount Dhaulagiri.
Eight of the world’s 14 tallest mountains are found in whole or in part in Nepal and form the backbone of the landlocked country’s tourism economy.
The project is estimated at nearly one million euros.
Indian war on bedbugs
India said it is also fighting litter bugs on mountain trails.
“We organize frequently used mountaineering route clean-up expeditions two to three times a year,” Indian Mountaineering Foundation secretary SP Malik told RFI.
“Also this year, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, we have organized three clean-up expeditions,” said Malik.
An Indian expedition to Everest has been ordered to bring back its waste.
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